New Passat B8 review

[GTP044]

We pick up our Highline sedan with luxury pack and R line pack tomorrow. Can't wait!!!!
This time last year my wife and I were a 3 Ford car family. A 2003 GTP Falcon, a 2012 Territory and a 2014 Focus. Now a 2 VW family. 2015 Amarok and now the Passat. We have loved the Rok and reckon the new Passat will be a great thing.

[Albatraozz]

We pick up our Highline sedan with luxury pack and R line pack tomorrow. Can't wait!!!!
This time last year my wife and I were a 3 Ford car family. A 2003 GTP Falcon, a 2012 Territory and a 2014 Focus. Now a 2 VW family. 2015 Amarok and now the Passat. We have loved the Rok and reckon the new Passat will be a great thing.

Can you please give us a full review when you have taken delivery? I'm very keen to buy the Highline Estate.

[GTP044]

Can you please give us a full review when you have taken delivery? I'm very keen to buy the Highline Estate.

Will do mate.

[Gusbo]

Hi All,

I've been looking at updating my MY10 TDi Passat with the new B8, but have to agree with Riker.....

The sport seats are comfortable however a full memory-electric function is surprisingly not available at all. Not good enough VAG......!!!!!

I've visited 2 dealers to confirm that this option is not available to Australia I also sent an email to VAG stating that they're own website "Build & Price" Quote [Only MY16 vehicles are configurable (excluding Golf Cabriolet). The information, pictures, colours, and specifications contained within the Volkswagen Group Australia website are presented as a general guide to the products and accessories offered by Volkswagen Group Australia], to which approximately a week later I received a phone call from VW customer service who whilst being very understanding regarding the omission and overall lack of overall choice proceeded to inform me that I could engage an after market supplier to fit memory seats!!!

If VW truly wishes to sell me a new B8, it's not really helping itself If VW Australia really want my sale then maybe they should look over the ditch and see what NZ have on offer... Surely Australia have a bigger market than New Zealand?

Anyway I have at least vented some frustrations, if anything!

[booba]

No electric seats, dynaudio, active lcd dash thingy, hi performance petrol.. vag have lost it.

[topsniper]

Placed an order and signed the contract yesterday. I ended up getting a white Comfortline wagon with Luxury Pack. I'm actually after Tungsten Silver at the beginning, but the earliest date the dealer can get it will be March 2016. As I need to trade in my Golf wagon, they can't hold the trade in price for that long. The reflex silver is a bit too boring, and the Indium Grey is too dark for me. Black is not an option. At the end of the day, I had to grab a white one. Estimated delivery date is two weeks later.

[topsniper]

Picked my car up yesterday so not completely familiar with it but if anyone has any questions ask and I'll endeavor to answer them. I decided on a white comfortline with the luxury and r-line packs. Overall happy with it but as i said earlier this good car could be great if only VAG had not neutered it for the Australian market.

I decided not to get the highline as after the two packs are added to a comfortline there is very little you are are missing out on that would justify the approx $5k difference. The big one obviously is the diesel but that is a negative for me anyway as i really think, based on test drives, it's torque is a little too high for a FWD and needs a AWD to go with it.

Congrats mate. I will be picking up my car two weeks later. Do you reckon white is a good choice of colour? I'm still fighting with colours even after I signed up the contact. Tungsten Silver looks amazing on the pictures, haven't seen one in flesh though. I saw a lot of white Passats in the dealer yesterday, it looks OK, but I still prefer Tungsten.

[DarkStar69]

Congrats mate. I will be picking up my car two weeks later. Do you reckon white is a good choice of colour? I'm still fighting with colours even after I signed up the contact. Tungsten Silver looks amazing on the pictures, haven't seen one in flesh though. I saw a lot of white Passats in the dealer yesterday, it looks OK, but I still prefer Tungsten.

Thanks. More sure everyday that i made the right decision. White would probably not be my choice if we had a "real" range of colours. I say real as they are either black, white or a shade of gray. I think the Night Blue is so dark it is in the black range. Even the Harvard Blue, which looks great on the screen and i had been keen on, turned out to be, to me at least, a murky gray blue and not at all vibrant.

Another factor is if you are getting the R-Line? I found that the extra bling it adds to the exterior, a lot of which is black, seemed to get "lost" in the dark colours but stood out with the white. As for the luxury pack, its darkened glass windows and sunroof are also nicely contrasted by the white. As i said I'm not fond of white but thought it was the best option of the limited range that what was on offer.

Anyway try and see as many as you can of the colour range in bright sunlight and just go with the one that looks good enough that you would give it a second glance when driving past or a good long look if you saw it parked in the street. Trust your instincts, you know yourself best.

[topsniper]

Thanks. More sure everyday that i made the right decision. White would probably not be my choice if we had a "real" range of colours. I say real as they are either black, white or a shade of gray. I think the Night Blue is so dark it is in the black range. Even the Harvard Blue, which looks great on the screen and i had been keen on, turned out to be, to me at least, a murky gray blue and not at all vibrant.

Another factor is if you are getting the R-Line? I found that the extra bling it adds to the exterior, a lot of which is black, seemed to get "lost" in the dark colours but stood out with the white. As for the luxury pack, its darkened glass windows and sunroof are also nicely contrasted by the white. As i said I'm not fond of white but thought it was the best option of the limited range that what was on offer.

Anyway try and see as many as you can of the colour range in bright sunlight and just go with the one that looks good enough that you would give it a second glance when driving past or a good long look if you saw it parked in the street. Trust your instincts, you know yourself best.

Yes, you are absolutely right about the colours. I'm now pretty sure that I have made a right decision. I'll just stick with white. Two weeks is too long. Can't wait.

[00100100]

Hi all, few of you are picking up their new B8's already, show us some photos

I also agree with the white colour and R-Line package. Looks great as it is emphasizing what the R-Line trim is adding to the car.

[ftaffy]

Been looking at White B8, the R-line with comfort pack is very tempting. Thanks for posting opinions/comments as some reviews are coming from the wrong angle i feel.

[Albatraozz]

So I just ordered a new Passat Comfortline in white but the dealer hasn't given me any specific date for delivery. Does anybody have any idea how much of a backlog there is for the new Passats? How long it may take?

[Orrelljet]

Just wondering how any new B8 owners are getting on with the manual seat height adjustment.

I'm not exactly a giant, at 5' 8", but my wife is on the wrong side of 5' so the electric height adjustment in our base 2013 Territory is bloody useful, as is the ability to tilt the driver's seat.

Does anyone share a car with a partner on the other end of the height scale? Is it a pain in the new Passat?

I love the look and quality feel of the new B8 but have found myself drawn to the current Tiguan (R-Line) simply because of the electric driver's seat.

[DarkStar69]

Just wondering how any new B8 owners are getting on with the manual seat height adjustment.

I'm not exactly a giant, at 5' 8", but my wife is on the wrong side of 5' so the electric height adjustment in our base 2013 Territory is bloody useful, as is the ability to tilt the driver's seat.

Does anyone share a car with a partner on the other end of the height scale? Is it a pain in the new Passat?

I love the look and quality feel of the new B8 but have found myself drawn to the current Tiguan (R-Line) simply because of the electric driver's seat.

I have exactly the same situation. Yes its a pain but the wife only drives the Passat once or twice a week and we had the same situation on the previous car so I don't feel its a step backward. I would have loved the electric seats together with the driver profile function but I would/did not consider it a big enough of an issue to not buy the car.

[Cossor]

B8 Brochure

Very disappointed with VAG current B8 Passat economy brochure printing.
All in all, about 10 pages as against 23 for B7 Passat.
I have the impression VAG consider Passat of minor importance, and need to
economize where possible. Perhaps publication a victim of diesel gate?

There s no detailed list of what is provided or different in the options packages
apart from general mentions in separate parts of the brochure.
Most important, while a general list of specifications are provided,
no technical specifications are provided.
For example. what is towing capacity, weight, turning circle, dimensions?
Last but not least, fuel consumption Urban and Extra urban.

However, at bottom of specifications page, we are advised for full specification to go to
2015 VW Jetta | Specifications & Price | Volkswagen Australia
Jetta?? I tried Passat instead of Jetta, but no luck